Optimism in American Literature – Light Transcendentalists

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are considered "light" Transcendentalists because they believed in highlighting the positive side of humanity. They believed that, left to mankind's own devices in an individualistic environment, humans were forces of good. Emerson, Thoreau, and other Transcendentalists believed that truth was found in nature, away from cities and industry. They held the belief that only after they let go of the physical world and its trappings would they find truth, meaning, and all the answers to their deepest questions. As today's modern society becomes ever increasingly wired to technology, it may be just as beneficial now as ever before to take a moment every now and then and remember what writers like Emerson and Thoreau had to say about finding truth so many ages ago.